Daytona 500

Kurt Busch Pilots SHR To Daytona Victory

7 years ago 1548 Views Comments Off

Patient Kurt Busch Wins Wild Daytona 500—Without looking back Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: DICK AYERS RACERSGUIDE.COM & GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 27, 2017- His car damaged in a wreck on the backstretch and held together with tape, Kurt Busch grabbed the lead on the final lap of the 59th Daytona 500 on Sunday and took the checkered flag in the Great American Race as a capstone to a checkered career that has trended upward since Busch joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. In a race that featured the first test of…

Daytona 500

Sunday Daytona Notebook

7 years ago 1111 Views Comments Off

Despite The Crash That Took Him Out, Earnhardt Encouraged By Strong Performance Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: DICK AYERS / RACERSGUIDE.COM & GETTY IMAGES DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 27, 2017- Returning to action from a concussion that sidelined him for the second half of the 2016 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leading Sunday’s Daytona 500 at the halfway point, having passed Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson for the top spot on lap 97 of 200. But both Earnhardt and Johnson were off-cycle on pit stops, and a trip to pit road was imminent. What Earnhardt…

Daytona 500

Saturday Daytona Notebook

7 years ago 1251 Views Comments Off

Tony Stewart’s Quick Wit Shines Through During Ford Press Conference Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 26, 2017- Just because Tony Stewart has retired from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing doesn’t mean the co-owner of Stewart-Hass racing has lost his quick wit and sense of humor. Stewart’s penchant for repartee was in full evidence on Saturday morning when he answered questions from reporters during a Ford Performance press conference at Daytona International Speedway. Before Stewart could get into his shtick, however, he had to take some good-natured…

Daytona 500

Friday Daytona Notebook

7 years ago 1226 Views Comments Off

Renewals of Logano, Gordon, Shell/Pennzoil ensure stability at Team Penske Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 25, 2017- In a sport whose landscape is constantly changing with movement among drivers, crew chiefs and sponsors, the watchword at Team Penske is “status quo.” The Roger Penske-owned organization went a long way toward ensuring its long-term stability by signing seven-year extensions with driver Joey Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and sponsor Shell/Pennzoil, all of whom will remain integral parts of the No. 22 Ford’s effort well into the next decade. “We…

Daytona 500

Elliott & Hamlin Take Duel Victories

7 years ago 1606 Views Comments Off

Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin Win Action-Filled Can-Am Duel Qualifying Races Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE ERVICE Photos By: DICK AYERS / RACERSGUIDE.COM DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 24, 2017- Daytona 500 pole winner Chase Elliott put an exclamation on his qualifying effort with a victory in Thursday night’s first Can-Am Duel at Daytona International Speedway. Elliott passed second-place starter Brad Keselowski for the lead on Lap 37 and held it the rest of the way—through a wreck that altered the positions of the two Open Team drivers trying to race their way into the field for the 59th running of…

Daytona 500

Daytona 500 Media Day Notebook

7 years ago 1181 Views Comments Off

FORD DRIVERS EMPLOY 'ISLAND HOPPING' STRATEGY Story By: REID SPENCCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 23, 2017- Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski went island hopping last Sunday. If that sounds like a Caribbean vacation, or a way for the Team Penske teammates to relieve the accumulating stress from pressure-packed Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, guess again. Island hopping is the way Keselowski got to the front in Sunday’s rain-delayed Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona. It’s the way Logano ultimately won the race. And it’s the way the Ford drivers hope…

Daytona 500

Earnhardt Jr. Pursues His Passion To Race

7 years ago 1562 Views Comments Off

Passion to Race Drives Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Return to The Track Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 20, 2017- Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt “wobbly” and didn’t know why. In his motor coach last July at Kentucky Speedway, Earnhardt felt the first hint of the concussion symptoms that would keep him out of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the last half of the 2016 season. He voiced his concerns to fiancée Amy Reimann. “I told Amy, ‘I feel wobbly,’” Earnhardt recalled on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.…

Daytona 500

Chase Elliott Edges Dale Earnhardt Jr. For Daytona 500 Pole

7 years ago 1273 Views Comments Off

Carries On The Family Tradition Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 19, 2017- Winning back-to-back Daytona 500 poles is something of a family tradition, as Chase Elliott proved by the skin of his teeth on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. The last driver to take a lap in the second and final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Elliott covered the distance in 46.663 seconds (192.872 mph) to edge Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. by .002 seconds. The pole was the…

Daytona 500

Mario Andretti Named Honorary Daytona 500 Official

7 years ago 1165 Views Comments Off

Mario Andretti Celebrates 50th Anniversary of His Daytona 500 Victory. Story & Photos By: DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY MEDIA DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –February 15, 2017- Mario Andretti will serve as an honorary race official for the 59th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 26, the opening race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Andretti, along with A.J. Foyt, Jamie McMurray and most recently Jeff Gordon, are the only drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Andretti and Daytona Int’l Speedway will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his 1967 Daytona 500 triumph throughout…

Logano Caps Spectacular Race with Daytona 500 Victory

9 years ago 1416 Views Comments Off

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—The record will reflect that Joey Logano won Sunday’s 57th Daytona 500 under caution, when a multicar wreck on the backstretch forced NASCAR to wave the yellow flag as Logano led the field into the final corner on the second lap of a green-white-checkered-flag finish. But the notation of that final caution does no justice to the memory of a race that produced some of the most scintillating restrictor-plate racing in the history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. From a restart on Lap 182 of a scheduled 200, fans standing—not…